Notepad Scribbles, 12/1/09

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, although I suppose the Podcast Review was essentially the same thing. Despite the slow hot stove, apparently I’ve found plenty to talk about…and apparently very little for me to ramble on.

I submitted an entry to Alright Hamilton! for their 3rd annual Turkey Coloring Contest, and I’m proud to say that I’m one of the top 3 entries this year! Of course, AH! has had only 4 entries received in the past two years combined, so it’s possible that these 3 were the only ones to be sent in this year. Regardless, I invite you to check them out and vote in the poll posted in the top right corner of the blog.

The Timberwolves finally won a game! This was the first Wolves game that I think I seriously watched (although I switched between it and the Ravens/Steelers game) this season, probably because I started watching after halftime when they made their comeback, so it was much easier to tolerate them. I am a Wolves fan and I try to not follow the team only when times are good, but it’s been difficult this year. Dan Barreiro jokingly asked on Twitter if the Wolves would extend Kurt Rambis’ contract after the game, but the guy has 3+ years remaining, so I think it’s still a bit early to tell. Let the guy win 5 games before we start mentioning an extension.

By the way, I still feel that it was a mistake to let Flip Saunders and Dwane Casey go, and let Randy Wittman coach for as long as he did. In my opinion, the Wolves are so bad this year because they lack a leader, both on offense and for the team in general.

The “Should The Twins Sign Justin Duchscherer?” post that I mentioned earlier is going to evolve so that I will profile several starting pitchers that are coming off injuries from 2009, rather than just focusing on the Duke of Hurl. So, look forward to hearing about Rich Harden, Erik Bedard, and Ben Sheets as well.

Anyone know how to successfully register to the Blog Talk Radio website? I’ve been trying for several weeks now and I can’t get a confirmation email at all. It would be nice to be able to leave comments and ask questions for Seth Stohs’ and Jack Steal’s podcasts without having to call in or remain mute.

Early returns on the Woods car crash poll have overwhelmingly been in support of my opinion, and in fact has been unanimous so far. I suppose now that I know that guy from Joe Posnanski’s blog wasn’t complaining about the actual posts of humor, the reason for the poll is now moot.

Joe Mauer has apparently set the start of Spring Training as his deadline for a contract extension. He cites that he doesn’t want talks to continue during the regular season, which does make sense. However, it makes me worry that if the Twins aren’t willing to lock down the best catcher in the majors for the next 5-8 years, then they may lose their only chance to hold onto him.

Chip Caray has been fired from (actually “mutually agreed upon leaving”) TBS due to his missed calls and overzealous nature of using the word, “fisted.” First, listening to him made me beg for Joe Buck and Tim McCarver when I don’t normally like them. Second, it reminded me that for some reason, I don’t see a station’s #1 broadcast team as being as great as the station believes. See: Buck, Joe and McCarver, Tim; Caray, Chip; Morgan, Joe and Phillips, Steve; and Blyleven, Bert (on occasion).

You all can say you saw it here first when I dramatically predict that the Vikings will not make it past the 2nd round of the playoffs. Being 10-1 is great and I’m definitely pleased with this season, but remember that they have had a rather weak schedule this year. Don’t believe me? The Vikings so far have had the 2nd easiest strength of schedule in the league at .423 (107-146). The easiest is the Chicago Bears at .413 (105-149…yet the Bears are 4-7!) and the hardest is the Miami Dolphins at .594 (152-104). The toughest team (by record) that the Vikings have played is Green Bay, at 7-4. A lot of people around me are claiming that the Vikings could beat the Saints, but I don’t buy it.

Finally, Andrew Clem of Clem’s Baseball posted his take on Target Field recently. The diagram of the stadium isn’t the greatest (but Clem uses a key for all stadiums to distinguish all the similarities among the ballparks, thus the odd colors and rather bland appearance) but he does give an unbiased review. I highly recommend checking this out.